Serena Williams’ U.S. Open Finale Draws 4.6M Viewers, Smashes ESPN Ratings Records For Tennis Telecast
deadline.comSerena Williams’ final U.S. Open match Friday was a grand slam for ESPN.The third-round faceoff, in which Williams lost to Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovich 7-5, 6-7, 6-1, was the most-watched tennis telecast in ESPN’s 43-year history.
An average of 4.6 million viewers (P2+) tuned in to watch the match held at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, which likely signaled the end of Williams’ storied 25-year career.
That bested the previous record of 3.9 million for the 2012 Wimbledon Men’s Championship, when Roger Federer defeated Andy Murray, in ESPN’s first year with exclusivity and first-ball-to-last-ball coverage from London.The Williams-Tomljanovich match averaged 4.8 million viewers from 7:15-10:30 p.m.
ET and peaked with 6.9 million viewers in the 10:15 p.m. quarter-hour.Through the first five days of the U.S. Open, which were dominated by coverage of Williams, an average of 1.1.
Read more on deadline.com